Put It Away
ORGANIZATION AT WORK OR HOME
DROP COOKIES
SOME HINTS ON GOOD DROP COOKIES!
1. Keep your butter and eggs cold. Warm ingredients yield a warmer dough, which spreads more in the oven. A cold dough will help the cookies spread slower, yielding a thicker cookie. I even put the bowl of dough in the refrigerator between batches to make sure it doesn’t warm up too much...I only do this if it is hot and the dough came out sticky...it really depends on the humidity and the day...
2. My recipes call for butter and shortening, (shortening is animal fat ) DO NOT be tempted to substitute margarine or spreadable, tub butter, or even vegetable shortening. Margarine and spreadable butters have more water in them than stick butter, so you’ll end up with flatter cookies.
BELIEVE ME...this is SOOO IMPORTANT to good cookies! Just as Julia insisted on butter, I insist on REAL butter and REAL animal shortening. By the way...this is cheaper than vegetable shortening and I truly believe that your body knows what to do with this real food, rather than some chemically processed hydrogenated by-product that probably causes free radicals in your body because the cells have never seen such a weird man-made molecule!!
3. Make sure you let your cookie sheets cool completely before you add more dough to them. A warm sheet will start to bake the cookies immediately, and they’ll spread more.
4. Let the cookies puff up and they will form cracks all over them. This is when you remove them from the oven. Leave them on the sheet until they cool. They will finish cooking on the sheet and will be crispy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside.
I cook them with the oven light on so I can see when they puff up...this oven I have right now...it takes about 7 minutes for a batch. Again, it depends on the day, the humidity, etc. With practice you will learn and remember that most cooks leave them in the oven too long. They will look undone, but once they puff up and it has been 7-8 minutes, go ahead and pull them out...just remember to leave them on the sheets for awhile.
I have four cookie sheets so I can be loading one sheet while one is in the oven and the others are cooling down...
Cook only ONE sheet at a time, in the CENTER of the oven.
This seems like lots of work, but with practice you can make cookies once a week ( I usually do on Sunday afternoon)...it takes an hour or so, but then you have something sweet all week that is actually healthy compared to the processed junk or candy.
Or freeze some of the dough balls in a plastic bag to cook later...
Think about it! This is actually a diet secret!
Almost all of my recipes, I do not drop the dough on the sheet, but I roll it into balls and then place them staggered and press them down lightly with my fingers. This is ensures that they are uniform and they bake better.
Also, you do not wash the sheets between baking. If some cookie has stuck, just scrape off the crumbs into the trash can, but do NOT wash your sheets between batches.
SNICKER DOODLES
This is the best recipe ever!! I got it from a neighbor about 20 years ago. She was a white haired lady in her 70's and it had been her grandmother's recipe. If you change it...be warned...it will NOT be as good!
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup shortening (animal not vegetable)
3 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Mexican...if you have it...buy it at a small Mexican food store)
1 teaspoon orange extract
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoon fast acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and orange extract. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 4 tablespoons sugar and the 4 t of cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Press balls slightly with fingers to flatten them, NOT too much!
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until set but not too hard.
Leave on baking sheets till cooler, then remove.
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
I have had people tell me that they did not like PB cookies until they tried mine. DO NOT over bake them. When they puff and crack, PULL them out, even though they look as though they are not done! This one of my mom's recipes.
2 cups butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups shortening (animal not vegetable)
2 cups white sugar
2 cups of brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Mexican...if you have it...buy it at a small Mexican food store)
2 cups of Peanut Butter (some of my children like creamy, some chunky...you decide)
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoon fast acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons white sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter. Blend in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Put the 4 tablespoons sugar in a pie pan, and roll the balls of dough in the sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Press balls slightly with fingers to flatten them, NOT too much!
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until set but not too hard.
Leave on baking sheets till cooler, then remove.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
This is a good recipe! I got it from a neighbor about 30 years ago. She was an excellent baker. Do not let this dough get too warm or the cookies will spread too much.
3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup shortening (animal not vegetable)
1 and 1/2 cups cups white sugar
1 and 1/2 cups cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Mexican...if you have it...buy it at a small Mexican food store)
1 teaspoon butter extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon fast acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
! bag of chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate chips)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter extract. Blend in the flour, baking powder, and salt. When mixed, add chocolate chips and mix again. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Place the balls, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Press balls slightly with fingers to flatten them, NOT too much!
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until set but not too hard.
Leave on baking sheets till cooler, then remove.
These cookies have many variations; you can add 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, 1/2 cup of coconut, toffee pieces, chocolate chunks, peppermint pieces and the chocolate, etc.
OATMEAL RAISIN OR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
This is an excellent recipe! I got it from a lady at church about 25 years ago. If you change it...be warned...it will NOT be as good! You can use either raisins, or chocolate chips or add nuts or other goodies...or just plain...the way my husband likes them.
After I make the basic dough, I will divide it into 3 bowls. I then add, chocolate chips to one bowl, raisins to the second, and leave the third bowl plain.
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup shortening (animal not vegetable)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Mexican...if you have it...buy it at a small Mexican food store)
1 teaspoon butter extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 cups of quick oats (oatmeal) (you can blend this in a blender to make it like a flour or you can put it in as is...I like both types of cookie...the blended will make a softer cookie...more like a chocolate chip cookie...)
2 teaspoon fast acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter extract. Blend in the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. After mixed well, add the chips and or raisins. Mix again. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Roll the balls of dough. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Press balls slightly with fingers to flatten them, NOT too much!
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until set but not too hard.
Leave on baking sheets till cooler, then remove.
Mixed-Up COOKIES
1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Mexican...if you have it...buy it at a small Mexican food store)
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 1/2 cups quick oats (oatmeal)
2 teaspoon fast acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of chocolate chips and/or M & M's
1/2 cup of pecan pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Blend in the oats, baking powder, and salt. After mixed well, add the chips/ M&M's and pecan pieces. Mix again. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Press balls slightly with fingers to flatten them, NOT too much!
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until set but not too hard.
Leave on baking sheets till cooler, then remove.